Skeleton Knight, in Another World - Volume 8 - Chapter Ep

Volume 08 Epilogue
Translator: Silver Editor: Namorax

「Epilogue」

The Great Leburan Empire, the nation dominating the western half of the northern continent.

Northeast of the Siena mountain stood the city Tishen, which had been under the Great Leburan Empire’s control until the other day.

Now, the Lord’s manor in the center of Tishen was occupied by the imperial army of the Holy Leburan Empire. The holy empire’s emperor, Domitianus Leburan Valetiafelbe, currently occupied the lord’s desk.

The young emperor had short, wavy, amber hair and his firm body filled out an ornate military uniform.

However, the overflowing ambition in his grey eyes as he glanced at the adjacent territory on the map was rarely seen in one so young.

Only one man dared to approach the room in which Domitianus resided.

This man was lanky, had a shaved head and wore thin-rimmed glasses. He bowed to the emperor, who remained focused on the wall map, before speaking.

“Congratulations on your victory, your Majesty. I am Todo Straus, chief of the Magic Academy. Did you find the 『Ring of Submission』’s performance satisfactory during the battle?”

Todo’s question put a smile on Emperor Domitianus’ face.

“The ability to control monster those rings provided was spectacular in action. We can devastate the surrounding territories with those monsters. I heard that you were the one who developed the rings. That is impressive. The west will fall with relative ease once we begin acquiring stronger monsters.”

Todo bowed his head at the emperor’s praise.

“Your praise is wasted on me. Once I’m finished compiling my field reports, I’ll return to the academy and begin working on the improved rings.”

Satisfied with the Todo’s answer, Domitianus was about to excuse him when he noticed the other man’s eyes darting across the room.

“Is there something else?”

Todo offered a small apology before answering the emperor.

“A friendly source informed me that Hiruku’s pope has been killed.”

Even Domitianus’ complexion changed upon hearing Todo’s statement.

“What!? Was there some kind of power struggle?”

“No, Hiruku attempted to invade its three neighboring countries, but one of them… Nozan… allied itself with Rhoden and the elves and managed to repel the invasion.”

Domitianus’ shoulders trembled, and laughter gradually sprung forth from his mouth.

“Gahahaha, the day the Hiruku doctrine is shaken has finally come… We need to look into the surrounding circumstances immediately. Hahaha, if the story is true the church’s influence will plummet. The groundwork for expelling the church has been laid.”

The emperor’s laughter died down as his gaze returned to the map hanging on the wall.

“…… In the coming future, the territories drawn on this map will be drastically different. We need to be alert.”

That utterance was but a whisper, but Domitianus’ mouth formed a truly twisted grin, a new round of laughter on the verge of breaking free.

◆◇◆◇◆

The imperial power of the West── the heart of the Great Leburan Empire── was characterized by the long and extensive history reflected in its streets. The people living there showed the dignity and arrogance their status offered to them. Visitors from other cities or counties actually felt that they were different from this place.

A woman, who attracted the attention of everyone around her, walked down the streets of the imperial capital with light footsteps.

Despite the dress she wore being somewhat more concealing than those of other women, her voluptuous figure drew the gaze of every man she passed.

He long blond hair, snow white skin and delicate features caused even  a few women to sigh.

The attention gathering woman walked along the main street with purpose before suddenly stopping to gaze toward the southern sky.

“What, Thanatos-sama was defeated…”

She said only that… but Erin Luxuria, one of the seven cardinals, lost interest after uttering that comment and resumed her walk.

A small sigh escaped her lovely lips as she parted her golden locks.

“I knew this would happen when the dragon king appeared in Larissa… The pope may have granted me an immortal body, but there was no chance I could defeat such an opponent.”

However, no one could hear her monologue or even knew her true identity for that matter, those around her were merely enraptured by her beauty and the charm.

Occasionally she’d direct a smile to those men, but after awhile she disappear in the imperial city’s crowd.

◆◇◆◇◆

The capital of Nozan Kingdom, Soulia…… the main hall of the royal palace was filled to the brim with nervous people watching the ceremony take place.

Humans weren’t the only ones present. Many elves were in attendance, and there was a handful of familiar faces present as well.

The representatives of each involved party were taking part in the ceremony that was underway.

The three human kingdoms were present. There was the ruler of Nozan and lord of this palace, King Asparuf. Lord Branier of the Salma kingdom stood at his side. Finally, there was prince Sect of Rhoden.

The dark elf Fangas Furan Maple stood as the representative of the Great Canada Forest.

Goemon of the Blade Heart Clan acted as the beastmen’s representative.

They sat in a row at a long table and passed around parchments for each representative to sign. Once the signing was completed, they exchanged a few words and handshakes with one another.

With the general niceties wrapped up, King Asparuf turned toward the audience which had been watching with bated breath and addressed them.

“Today is the first day of a new era. Everyone gathered here is a witness to this momentous event. Let it not be forgotten that we, our neighbors, the Elves and the People of the Plains and Mountains banded together to overcome the evil that threatened this land!”

Asparuf went on to hotly speak about the country’s future prospects and about forging new relationships with the other races, all the while scanning the faces of the audience to ascertain their reaction to this news.

I was leaning against the wall in a corner of the main hall, sans my usual armor.

Ponta sat in her regular spot on the top of my head and was scratching her chin with her hind leg.

Ariane elbowed me in the side when she saw how Ponta and I were acting.

(Hey, Arc. Are you paying attention?)

While Ariane checked our surroundings, I held back a yawn as best as I could and whispered my response to her question.

(Sorry, Ariane-dono. I’m not very good with these types of things…)

When I said that, Ariane looked up at me with her golden eyes and whispered a response almost immediately.

(…… Arc, what are you gonna do when this is over?)

As I began to review my future prospects to answer her ambiguous question, a simple desire sprung up in my head.  It wasn’t a bad idea, so I told her.

“When this is done, I’m gonna go relax at the hot spring.” “Kyun!”

Ariane’s eyes popped out when she received an unexpected answer, she was completely caught off guard by what I said.

Though it felt like I’ve been in this world for quite some time, it’s only been half a year since I first arrived… there was no need to worry about the big things just yet.

For now, I’ll just focus on the things in front of me.

Well… I’ll go to the hot springs first.